Of Fire And Ice
by Unknown In The Twilight
Summary: Hi, My name is Artemis, and these are my sisters, Kelles, Izabelle, Aela and Tosh. Nice to meet you. This is the story of our lives, well, until it was invaded by a self absorbed genius playboy millionaire philanthropist. "But I-" GO AWAY TONY!


A/N: Hey guys! Artemis, Aela, Kelles, Izabelle, and Tosh belong to me...nothing and no one else, sadly. Le sigh. Anyway, Feel free to express your self, comments, questions and concerns, yadda yadda.

Some say the world will end in fire,  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favour fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To say that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice.

Robert Frost

X...X...X...X...X...X...X...X...X...X...X...X

I strolled along the street with my hands in my pockets, humming a Disney song under my breath as I went.

Coolest twenty six year old ever.

Word.

Okay, I'm stopping.

My sister sat across the street from me, sitting at one of the cafes outdoor table and pretending to do work on her laptop while she drank her latte.

"Find a mark yet?" She asked me through the ear pieces we wore.

"Not yet..." I murmured back. She swore slightly

"Come on, Artie, you're our best pick-pocket. We need that money." I scowled.

"I know, I know." I grumbled.

Turning the corner, I came across a nearly deserted street. Swearing, I turned to leave when I heard a woman cry out.

"Let me go!" She shrieked, flailing in her attackers arms. He pulled a gun out and pressed it against her temple. She froze immediately.

"Shut up, whore!" He snapped. "I know your screwing Stark, everyone does! So your gunna call your man and your gonna get him to wire some cash to.." He went on. Frowning, I pressed myself up against the wall.

"Aela!" I hissed into my ear piece. "Get here, now. We have a hostage situation."

"Are you alright?" She demanded, I could here the scrap of her chair against the ground.

"I'm fine, it's not me, some red head." I murmured

"So I see," She whispered, appearing next to me. I hissed and jumped.

"I hate it when you do that..." I growled. My sister frowned.

"That's Pepper Potts...CEO of Stark industries and fiance to Tony Stark, aka, Iron Man." She mused.

Huh, interesting.

"Please," She begged "Just let me go!" The man chuckled cruelly.

"I don't think so. I want my money."

"Well well well, what do we have here sister?" I smiled smugly, walking into sight. Aela followed my lead.

"A poor excuse of a man who's about to get his ass handed to him by two girls?" She asked innocently.

"Exactly," I drawled. He glared at us and pressed the gun tighter up against her temple.

"Back off, bitches. This whore's all mine." He snarled. "One more step and I'll blow her brains out." I laughed. The woman whimpered.

"No, you wont." I smiled flexing my fingers at my sides.

"If you kill her, " My sister cocked her hip "You wont get your money." His glare intensified.

"One step closer!" He repeated, now pointing the gun at her leg. If he shot her there, he would burst her artery. She would bleed out. I tensed.

"Sister," I heard in my head. "Aela will use her energy projection, you do your thing." I nodded my head, looking at Aela from the corner of my eye. She mimicked my movement. I put my hand out slowly to the man, tilting my head to the side.

I'll explain more about the voices in my head later.

I'm not crazy, really.

"Give us the girl," I demanded. "Don't make us hurt you." He laughed and jerked Potts against her chest. She sobbed.

"I'm the one with the gun, ladies." He sneered. "Don't make me hurt you."

I sighed, shrugging before looking at my sister.

"We tried," She offered. Potts cried.

"Please, no!" She sobbed. "Don't leave!"

I smiled, tilting my head.

"Oh,"

"We're not leaving," My sister finished. Potts stared at us confused, tears still running down her face.

Quickly, I twisted my out stretched hand, sending the man toppling to his knees as he screamed in agony. At the same time, Aela sent one of her miniature exploding suns spiralling towards his hand, taking it off and sending it and the gun flying.

Potts gave a silent scream as she fell to her knees. Aela strode quickly towards her and swept her up into her arms, quickly apologizing for the violence and checking her over for injuries. I made my way over to the man who was laying on the ground, seizing up. My...gift, my mutation, allowed me control over fire and the ability to create it on whim. This bastard had already gotten a taste of my power, the blood in his veins competing with the lava racing through them. Sighing, I flipped him onto his back and pressed my foot against his chest.

"We tried to tell you," I told him before smashing him in the face and rendering him unconscious.

I glanced over to where my sister was still soothing Potts.

"You okay, lady?" I asked, crouching down beside them. She looked up at me with wide eyes, gaping.

Of course. You can handle being engaged to a super hero, but throw some mutants your way and your suddenly petrified.

Scowling, I reached into the pocket of my leather jacket and pulled out my cell phone, tossing it to her.

"This would be a good time to call your super hero boyfriend to pick you up, babe." I sighed.

"That won't be necessary," Came an overly smug voice. I looked up to see a man in an Iron suit walking towards us, a guy wearing a purple button down with him.

Of course, Iron Man. How unoriginal can you be?

My sister stared at both of the men with wide eyes, that familiar oh-my-gosh-it's-a-scientist look on her face. Oh dear.

"Tony!" Pepper cried, flinging herself into his arms. He caught her easily, burying his face in her hair. I looked at my sister; time to go.

"You all right?" He asked her, pulling back slightly to check her face. She nodded rapidly.

"These girls they...I don't know what they did but they-they saved me." She stuttered, looking to me and Aela. I helped my sister up, her eyes still glued on the men. "The red head she...it was like the energy beams from your suit, but from her bare hands! And the other one she-she..." She trailed off, staring at us. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "Thank you...I-I don't even know your names." She laughed. Stark looked at us with renewed interest.

"I'm Aela Owens," My sister said in a rush. "Oh my god, you're Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark!" She gushed.

"Aela," I hissed, jabbing her in the side.

"Doctor Banner, I admire your work with-" I quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and clamped my hand over her mouth. She continued to blabber on behind it and make hand gestures.

"That's enough, sister." I hissed into her ear. I looked at Pepper. "We'll be taking our leave now that you are no longer in danger." I told her. Aela jerked her head to look at me with wide eyes, dislodging my hand.

"But-"

"Leaving." I glared at her, pulling her along with me and snatching my cell phone back from Potts. "The others will be worried."I told her. Aela frowned.

"But I want to-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"But Artie-"

"I'm the eldest." I shot back at her and she frowned.

"Fine..." She sighed. I gave Potts a two finger salute. Tony hollered after us, but I quickly raced off. Turning the corner, our younger sister showed up in our families SUV. Pulling, the door open, I quickly ushered Aela in.

"Hey!" Tony hollered. I quickly jumped into the passengers seat.

"Drive!" I told Tosh, who promptly sped off.

Ha, win.

Little did I know, Stark had taken an interest in us...and a picture of our license plate.

"Aela, come on~" I groaned to my sister, who had been ignoring me for snatching her away from her idols. "You know it wouldn't have been safe, they know we're mutants. We're not exactly welcomed by the world. Hello, Church of Humanity?" She glared up at me through the curtain of her red waves.

"They wouldn't have cared, their super heroes, we saved his fiance, Banner's The Hulk, Artie! Technically a mutant too!"

I sighed.

"Maybe...maybe I was being a bit over protective..." I murmured

"You think?" She snapped, I flinched.

"But...what if they wouldn't be cool with it?" I whispered to her. "What if they tracked us down and found the others? Tosh and Izabelle can't heal like we do." Aela looked me over, her anger softening slightly.

"You've been acting weird all day...you alright?" She asked. I sighed and ran my hand through my short hair.

"Yeah...no...I don't know." I admitted. She frowned and scooted closer to me on our shared bed.

"You've been having the nightmares again, haven't you?" I opened my mouth to object. "Don't lie to me," She cut me off. "I've lived with you for nearly eleven years now, I've heard you crying in your sleep, I know the signs."

"I..." I hesitated. "I don't think they're nightmares, Aela." I sighed. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "I think they're memories."

I waited until Aela's breathing had evened out before I slipped out of the bed and out of the house. Leaning against the railing, I pulled out a cigarette, snapping my fingers to create a small flame to light it.

"Nice trick," I heard. Me head snapped up to find a man dressed in a trench coat standing next to Stark and Potts.

"Stark, Potts," I nodded. "Pirate-man." I offered the man in the trench coat.

"My name is Nick Fury," He told me, walking closer. I tensed. "I'm the director of SHEILD." He smiled.

"Cool story bro," I quipped, taking a drag. I eyed Potts. "You alright, Babe?" I questioned.

"I'm fine, thanks," She told me smiling. Nodding my head, I put out my cigarette and hoped off the porch.

"So...what do you want?" I asked.

"What I want, Artemis," Fury told me, stepping closer. "Is for you and you sisters to join the Avengers."

TBC


End file.
